Surgical patients are often shaved prior to invasive or surgical procedures around the areas of incision to remove hair that might harbor germs and thus serve as a source of contamination. The patients are commonly shaved in their hospital rooms, preoperative area or in the surgical suite. Loose hair clippings that remain on the patient, fall onto the sheets, covers and bed surroundings must be picked up and removed. At present, the most common protocol for picking up the loose hair clippings is to press an adhesive backed material, usually a tape, against the area where the clipped hair remains. This method, however, is unsanitary, inefficient and misses many hair clippings, which is potentially harmful to the patient. Furthermore, adhesive tapes are not typically kept under sterile conditions which increase the risk of spreading infectious contaminants not only through the surgical suite but possibly throughout the medical facility. In addition, patients may be allergic or otherwise reactive to the adhesive used in tape. Thus, there is a need for a more efficient, sanitary and cost effective method for clipping and hair removal.
Several prior art patents disclose vacuum devices attached to hair grooming clippers and shavers typically used in barber shops. Among these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,571,478, 5,924,202, 5,881,462, and 3,348,308. However, the prior art vacuum attachments have several shortcomings, namely, they do not fit most surgical clipper designs, are not integrally formed with clipper blades, and are furthermore not designed to be disposable.